a little bit scandalous
by teatart
Summary: "We really shouldn't do this, Maya." Those were the only words he managed to get out before Maya pulled his face towards hers and kissed him. Inspired by Ariana Grande's music video, 'Into You'.


**W** as it wrong that for the first time she felt free? No posing and smiling for the camera, no pretending to dote over her piece of crap fiancé, there was nothing fake about the moment she was in now.

She was riding in a convertible with the top down, her hair loose and flying in the wind and she was beside the man that seemed to get everything wrong with her life. It's been a really long time, she realized, that she's done something that was completely selfish. And Maya relished the feeling of not being around the toxic life that usually surrounded her because in that moment it was just her and the one who truly mattered to her.

It was her and Lucas.

 _six hours earlier..._

"I already said that I didn't want to go, Brandon." Maya said for what seemed like the millionth time. The two were in a Four Seasons hotel room getting ready for one of Brandon's pretentious friends' over the top parties. They were going to get all dolled up and pretend they're happily in love like Maya's father wanted and Maya was going to hate every second of it.

People didn't think that you could ever get tired of going to glamorous parties but Maya begged to differ. Once you've been to one then you've been to all. It was the same dull conversation, the same obnoxious people that liked to show off how much money they had and the same routine of having to look perfect.

Unfortunately, Brandon didn't think so and had to attend every party they were invited to.

"Do you know how ridiculous I'll look if you're not with me? Everyone will ask why you aren't there and it'll be a scandal. Quit being dramatic and get dressed already." He said to her while fixing his collar in the mirror. There hadn't been a person in Maya's life that she despised more than she despised Brandon. He was arrogant and controlling. He thought the ring she wore on her finger was a leash that he constantly had to pull on when Maya didn't want to do what he wanted.

And right now he was tugging, "Does it really matter if I'm there when I know you'll be sipping gin and tonics and chatting up some random girl at the party?" Brandon made eye contact with her from the mirror and she challenged his gaze from the bed they shared.

He made sure his collar was laying the way he wanted and he popped a few buttons at the top for good measure before making his way towards Maya. He grabbed her wrist and made sure they were only a centimeter apart before he whispered, "You should really learn to hold your tongue. That mouth of yours is going to keep getting you into trouble."

Maya winced as he released her wrist where he surely left a bruise as a knock sounded at their door. Immediately, Maya bit back her pain. If it was someone important at the door, they would ask questions so she headed towards the bathroom to catch her breath. She shut the bathroom door just as Brandon opened their door.

She would've paid more attention to who the voices were if she wasn't busy looking at her reflection. The blonde girl looking back wasn't someone she recognized, it was a shell of someone she used to be and it disgusted her. There were bags under her eyes from the sleepless nights she had to spend next to Brandon and there was a bruise on her shoulder peaking out from her robe.

The main door slammed closed and she jumped. Then there was a knock on the bathroom door and she feared it was Brandon. Another thought appeared though saying in a 'duh' tone, "Brandon wouldn't knock".

She waited a few moments just to be sure then a gentle voice called her, "Maya? Are you in there?" She felt like she couldn't open the door quick enough. That voice belonged to the one person who had been her rock throughout the whole ordeal with Brandon.

"Huckleberry." She breathed when she saw him. He looked offensively attractive standing there in his suit but Maya didn't let it show how breathless he left her. He was her bodyguard after all and that would be highly unprofessional. But who was she to not admire what was right in front of her?

His green eyes darted to her exposed shoulder, "Did he hit you again?" Her eyes followed his and she quickly pulled up the sleeve of her robe making brief note in her head to put make up on the bruise later.

"It doesn't matter, it's nothing."

"It didn't look like nothing, Maya." His eyes remained on her shoulder and put her hand over where the robe covered it like that would suddenly make him stop looking.

"Let's not talk about that. Let's talk about how much of a bore tonight is going to be for the both of us." Reluctantly Lucas lifted his gaze and his lips hesitated to curved into a smile.

"Well you don't have to go."

She suddenly was aware that her wrist was throbbing and she breathed a laugh, "No, I think I definitely do, huckleberry. Besides what would everyone do if I was gone?"

"I know what I'd do." If it wasn't the way he looked at her, it was the words that made her heart stop. There were times, though they were very few that made Maya wonder if Lucas felt the same way about her that she did him. Did it feel like a breath of fresh air whenever he was near her? Did he ever feel the need to sweep her up in his arms and kiss her? Or even just hold her...Maya's imagined both scenarios play out with a flutter in her stomach.

Before she could think up a response the door clicked open and out went the safe atmosphere she never got to enjoy for too long. Brandon stopped short at seeing the pair in the bathroom and lifted a questioning brow at Lucas, "Aren't you supposed to be outside? You're not keeping any of us safe in the bathroom, Friar." The way he talked down to Lucas made Maya's blood boil, Brandon was rude to all of his employees but it seemed like he reserved his ill mannered self for Lucas only.

"I called him in here, Brandon. You should be scolding me." She said with surprising confidence. Both Brandon and Lucas turned to look at her but she didn't shy away.

"Well then, Friar, would you leave me and my fiancée to talk in private?" Lucas looked planted in his spot until Maya nodded for him to go. She knew the moment Lucas left that Brandon would probably put his hands on her again and she figured Lucas did too but she already spoke up and knew her fiancé too well already.

* * *

Her right cheek was scarlet red before a woman came in to do her makeup. The makeup artist didn't pipe up once to ask what was wrong with her face and Maya thought that she must've been working for Brandon for a while because the bruise on her shoulder had also been showing before the woman put makeup on that as well.

She looked at herself in the mirror once the woman was done doing her hair and Maya put on her dress. Her cherry red lips stood out against her pale skin while contrasting her black body con dress and she wanted nothing more then to wipe all of it off. Brandon appeared beside her in the mirror and smiled, "You look stunning."

Nausea welled in her stomach as she stepped away from him and walked towards the door.

Smiling for pictures was the easiest part for Maya because for that one moment, she knew that Brandon couldn't do anything to her. At least not when everyone's eyes are on them. It was in those moments that she liked to test the limits of his restraint in public.

Guests were being photographed on the way in and Brandon had an arm around her waist pushing her forward but then Maya thought it'd a surely piss him off if she just stopped and posed on the way in so that's exactly what she did. She felt his arm slip from her waist and it felt like shackles falling off her. Maya put a hand on her hip as she sent a smile towards one of the eager photographers.

Brandon wasn't slow to pick up on what she was doing so he stopped as well and grabbed her wrist—the same wrist that he squeezed tightly earlier and pulled her to his side to pose.

"What are you doing?" He said through his smile.

"I was trying to take a picture." She said back to him just as subtly.

"You're playing a dangerous game, Maya." He pulled her face towards him as he looked back at her, feigning a loving look.

"What are you going to do, Brandon? Hit me?" She smirked and hoped every photographer captured that moment where Brandon looked completely furious and had no outlet to release his anger. He looked away from her to smile once more at the camera before taking her inside.

It took little to no time for Brandon to abandon her and she was thankful. She didn't have to listen to him lecture her and promise her that she'd regret doing her little stunt outside. From her spot at the table she could see him drinking away and whispering into some giggling blonde's ear. If she was lucky, he'd go home with her but Brandon wasn't that bold.

She wasn't sure how long she sat at the table sipping on champagne and staring at the door that had began servicing people coming in and out of the party and now stood closed. She didn't remember seeing Lucas on the way inside, she didn't think it would be wise for him to leave his post regardless so there was even less reasons for her to stay in her seat.

The song changed into something more upbeat and she saw Brandon disappear on the dance floor with the blonde. She took that as the perfect opportunity to get up and walk out and feeling the fresh night air hit her was probably the best part of her whole night.

Until a hand grabbed her forearm and she instantly turned around, worried that it was Brandon.

"What are you doing?"

It wasn't Brandon, it was someone _so_ much better.

"Trying to leave a really shitty party, what about you?" She replied playfully and it amused her that even now he kept up his serious bodyguard attitude. It was ridiculous how giddy she got with just having him around.

"I'm trying to make sure this really important girl doesn't get into trouble." Lucas said sternly and she got the same feeling she'd gotten in the bathroom, the heart skip a beat, fuzzy kind of feeling.

"I'm really important?" She inquired and stepped closer to him, she blames the minimal alcohol she consumed that day for her being so bold. She noticed him gulp and look down at her like he couldn't believe she was so close and it made her smile.

"Of course you are, even if that piece of shit fiancé you have doesn't tell you." Mentioning him put a bad taste in her mouth but she wouldn't let Brandon ruin her moment, so she stepped closer and the two were practically chest to chest and Maya could smell his warm and inviting cologne.

Without breaking contact, she said in a voice just above a whisper, "He's not exactly the one I want to hear it from." His green eyes were clouded with something Maya couldn't quite place in the moment, her mind was on his lips that were so close and tempting all she had to do was lift her head up and...

"We shouldn't do this, Maya." Those were the only words he managed to get out before Maya pulled his face towards hers and kissed him. Her arms snaked around his neck and her fingers nestled in his hair as she kissed him desperately and to her surprise, he kissed her back just as feverishly. His hands settled on her hips and he gripped them when Maya bit softly on his lower lip.

Time seemed to stop and fast forward before Maya pulled away from him, her eyes were still closed and she whispered, "Can you take me away from here?" He pecked her lips as he smiled, "For you? I'd do anything."

Then he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the parking lot to embark on what Maya knew already was going to be the happiest night of her life.


End file.
